Sunday, July 22, 2012

SLIM DOWN IN A SPLASH: Pool Workout

Summer is coming to an end, but we are also approaching the warmest month! So why not "Slim Down" in the pool while you are having fun? My sister sent me another routine that she used during her first and second trimesters. I have also tried some of the exercises and am game for anything that will burn, tone and strengthen! The following is her detailed review on the workout since she is more familiar than I am.

K-Tread is much more difficult to do than you would think - it really works out your arms and abs. I had to use water-weights under my arms to support myself or I couldn't keep my legs straight without sinking, but my sister was able to do it solo.

Otter Roll is fun, though I altered it slightly to keep my head out of the water - it can make you dizzy if you aren't careful. We only did this one occasionally.

Ball Lever is another very difficult one because it requires you to use core muscles to keep your body straight while countering a lot of resistance from the water. I didn't do this one as often as my sister.

Pike Scull (we just called it "V" for the shape) was one of our favorites and we would have races down the length of the pool to see who could move the fastest while maintaining the v-shape with their abs. I had to use floatation under my arms on this one too.

Wave Maker is great if you don't mind attracting attention from the splashing. I was a little self-conscious and kept my waves below the water and didn't do it as often, opting instead to just flutter kick.

So we would do a random assortment of these exercises (always "K" and "V") plus "bicycle"ing our legs with some water-weight curling to work our arms and a lunging and stretching cool-down in the shallows at the end. Flutter kicks or Frog/scissor kicks were the "filler" exercise, just doing laps for however long we wanted to after the more rigorous stuff. Our workout always lasted for about 45min-1hour. If I felt any straining or pain I immediately backed off and did something gentle instead. I've found that many workouts can be adapted for prenatal use by just paying attention to how your body is feeling and using common sense.